[AUDIO]: General walks away from sexual assault charges — and victim advocates cry foul
Tailhook whistleblower and Protect Our Defenders Board of Directors Member Paula Coughlin is interviewed in this piece from PRI:
Paula Coughlin was watching the case closely. She was a lieutenant in the US navy in 1991 when she — along with dozens of others — was sexually assaulted at the Navy’s Tailhook conference. Coughlin now works on behalf of sexual assault victims in the military.
She’s angry that the prosecution’s case against Gen. Sinclair fell apart. And she says the plea deal shows the need to remove the military chain of command from legal proceedings in sexual assault cases.
Coughlin says the Sinclair case demonstrates that the US military is not interested in combating the epidemic of sexual assault in the military.
“They’re really more interested in not getting caught, not having to deal with the issue,” Coughlin argues.
